Perspectives on Storing and Aging Pu'er Teas: Buying Aged Tea -- But Why?

by WARREN PELTIER

A Brief Historical Perspective

Not so long ago, aged tea could be had for pretty cheap. But all of a sudden, a lot of people in Asia got pu'er crazy, and started buying up all kinds of aged pu'er -- any pu'er -- regardless of quality or price. Let’s take a glimpse at some of the historical highlights of all of this:

Hong Kong has a long history of Pu'er drinking. Pu'er is used here for its medicinal properties, and has long been a favorite tea for consumption during dim sum meals in Hong Kong teahouses.

People’s Republic era: Hong Kong became the “tea storehouse” for pu'er tea. It was sent from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, where some was consumed locally by Hong Kong people, and some was exported to South East Asia.

1950s: one tong of good quality pu'er bing cha cost just a little over 3 HKD. By that time Guangdong people knew that the older pu'er gets, the better it is. But at that time, even old pu'er was only 1 yuan per pound more expensive than newer pu'er. 

1986: One 30-year-old aged Hong Yin (Red Label) bing was selling in Sheung Wan-area tea stores for a little over 170 HKD; some Lao Hao bings aged to 50 or 60 years were selling for 800 HKD. At that time it was already considered very expensive. But today it would be worth in the tens of thousands of HKD.

Starting in the 80s, Hong Kong’s economy started to boom, creating wealth, and a wealthy class of people. Some of these people started collecting pu'er teas as a kind of investment speculation.

In the mid and late 90s, some of the big teahouse owners went overseas -- because of uncertainty about Hong Kong’s future. But after 1997, they came back, started to clean their storehouses, and discovered that there were many kinds of good-quality aged pu'er in their stores. They then proceeded to sell off these stores to collectors in Taiwan and overseas. And two teahouses in particular -- Gam San Lau (金山樓) and Long Moon Lau (龍門樓) (see end-note) -- had stores of Tong Qing Hao Lao Yuan Cha (同慶號老圓茶), aged to almost 100 years in their possession.

Pu'er collectors, especially from Taiwan, would go to the tea farms and factories in Yunnan, sometimes buying up whole crops of tea leaves before they could reach market -- and thus securing their own private stock of tea to be privately pressed into bings for aging.

And that is what kicked off the big pu'er mania -- where everyone who was anyone had to have 100-year-old aged pu'er in their collection. And then supplies of good pu'er, even recently produced, became scarce. Of course, the likelihood of finding 100 year aged pu'er nowadays is virtually impossible.

Value Decisions

Just assume that there were some real, verifiable 100-year-old aged pu'er available for purchase to lucky you. And best of all, that you could actually afford it without going broke. Would that particular brick or bing of pu'er be worth it? That’s the question that has to be asked with any aged tea. Is it worth it to buy this tea? First of all, you probably don’t know the whole history of that tea. Sure, you can research wrappers and factories and batch codes. But that doesn’t tell you anything about how Person A, who first bought the tea, stored it. It doesn’t tell you whether the tea happened to come in contact with any extraneous odors. It doesn’t tell you that Person B stored the tea on a shelf next to a pair of his stinky shoes. It doesn’t tell you that Person C, who then bought the tea, brought it home in a rain storm, and it got all soaked. It doesn’t tell you that Person D doctored the tea by adding extraneous scents from camphor wood to the tea, just because that person thought that the tea smelled kind of like stinky shoes and mold, and thought that it would smell better (and perhaps taste better too) if it were scented with camphor wood.

Since you don’t know the exact storage methods used during the history of that tea, and since you haven’t tasted that tea, how will you know if that tea, aged 100 years is really good or not? You can’t know. And you also won’t know if it’s worth the price you paid. It just may be too big a risk to take.

So how pu'er teas are stored is important, not just for drinking, but also for resale value, if one were to ever be insane enough to sell part of his/her pu'er collection. Of course, pu'er manufacturers know how to age and store tea. And they know how to ship it. So you don’t have to be worried so much how the tea was stored in some warehouse at the factory.

But whether a tea is aged 10 years or 100 years, how the tea was stored is an important factor that will affect the quality of the tea over time. The longer the period of aging, the more important how a tea was stored during all those years becomes. And because of this, one should keep in mind that just because a tea is old doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s good. Of course, Chinese have a saying with pu'er: “the more aged, the better the tea becomes.” But that’s all relatively speaking. If the pu'er was stored improperly, or under non-ideal conditions, then it may be mediocre -- or bad -- aged tea.

In the past few years, in Mainland China, many extremely wealthy people (including many who don’t know a thing about pu'er) got into collecting pu'er as an investment. They speculate in pu'er, driving up the prices -- and driving real pu'er lovers out of the market. There are now many pu'er drinkers who are extremely negative about buying aged pu'er. And they refuse to buy any pu'er until the prices start reflecting the actual value of the tea. 

I myself refuse to buy any aged pu'er, partly because of outrageous prices, and partly because I’m not sure how that particular tea was stored; and also because there are so many fake and forged aged teas that it’s too complicated to keep up with. Now, when I buy pu'er, I visit several reputable dealers where I can sample many relatively new (aged 3 years or less) sheng pu'er bings; and compare prices. If I taste a particular sheng pu'er and I like it now, then when I take it home and store it away for say 7-10 years (or even longer), surely it will taste much better after proper storage and aging. 

Did the Pu'er Bubble Go Bust?

Pu'er prices rose dramatically in the first half of 2007, with prices of mao cha doubling. But this didn’t last long. By the end of June, prices had fallen dramatically as the following examples illustrate:

2007 Price Comparison Prices of Mao Cha

April 1, 2007

Banzhang Ancient Tea Tree: 1400 yuan/Kg

Bulang Shan Ancient Tea Tree: 600 yuan/Kg

July 1, 2007

Banzhang Ancient Tea Tree: 600 yuan/Kg

Bulang Shan Ancient Tea Tree: 300 yuan/Kg

According to market reports, in July 2007, pu'er mao cha prices remained calm, but tea farmers in Nan Nuo Shan (南糯山) and Bu Lang Shan (布朗山) were unwilling to ship their harvests because the going price was so low. And factories in Menghai stopped receiving shipments of tea; many factories reduced the production of shu pu'er. 

So overall, the market was in a bit of a turndown in 2007. No longer were consumers driving the market based on quantity: by the end of the year, they were demanding quality. And that drove prices back down. The demand just wasn’t there anymore.

Today’s Pu'er Market

At the end of June 2008, in Guangdong’s Fang Cun Tea Market, we see pu'er tea prices going down -- sometimes dramatically. A 357-gram 2008 Da Ye 0622 Sheng Bing is selling for 350 yuan per tong. With seven bings in a tong, that comes to 50 yuan per bing. Don’t take my word for it -- see for yourself at this page.

If the prices of pu'er continue to fall, that will be good for consumers. And maybe now is the time to start stocking up on pu'er. A recent trip to the Dong Pu Tea Market, in Fuzhou’s Jin An district, seems to verify suspicions. Tea vendors there say business is slow. Shu bings were selling for a mere 30 yuan. A 400-gram 2007 Meng Ku Large Tea Tree shu bing sold for 80 yuan. And that was the vendor’s asking price. I didn’t even try to bargain him down. If I had bought a tong or two, I probably could have got them for 60 or 70 yuan each. Keep in mind, Dong Pu Tea Market is a backwater tea market with only about 20 vendors. Much larger Pu'er markets, like Guangzhou or Shenzhen, or even Fuzhou’s larger Five-Mile Pavilion Tea Market, probably have stores of sheng bings at a much lower price point. Pre-2007 bings however, and the more famous brands of pu'er are still selling for a relatively high price. As the 2008 bings come onto the market, though, I suspect they will sell for relatively cheaper prices than in the past.

If you want further proof, you can check online auction sites like eachnet.com. The lowest price for a 250-gram 2000 sheng zhuan (brick) was 21.8 yuan. Shu bings are going for as low as 18 yuan. You see similar low prices on online tea vendor sites in China. And that leads to another question: with prices so low, what will the future hold for the new huge tea markets that sprouted up overnight in places like Shenzhen during the days of Pu'er Mania?

Pu'er Reality Check

What makes people go so crazy about pu'er anyway? Is it the moldy smell that people find so captivating or what? What’s all the mystique surrounding pu'er? And why would individual pu'er collectors go out of the way to buy a whole tea farm’s crop and hoard it? Why? Tea Hoarder! That’s tea insanity! And why would anyone be willing to fork over hundreds to thousands of yuan for a single bing? If you compare the quality of leaf in a bing to that of any other kind of tea (say Tieguanyin, for example), are you really getting value for money? For the most part, the pu'er leaf that is used for bings comes from the 4th to the 8th leaves on the bush (or tree). These are pretty large, coarse leaves that are used. Don’t fool yourself: those leaves aren’t big because they come from some thousand-year-old “ancient tea tree.” So why would anyone willingly spend large sums of money for teas that are made with so-called inferior quality leaves? I find it ironic that the teas I buy actually cost as much as, or even more than, the teaware I buy. It’s an expensive lifestyle.

Sensible Enjoyment

So my advice is: Wait awhile and see if cheaper prices make their way through the supply chain. And then, buy pu'er because you like the taste, not because of fame or reputation, or because of the duration of aging. Tea should be enjoyable, not an aggravation. If some of your pu'er tastes good now, then drink it now and enjoy it. Why wait to store it? But if you can wait, then store some away and see what happens. So, enjoy some now, enjoy some later. Maybe that’s the best way to buy and store pu'er.

Puer Storage

Puer tea - store with care!
June 10th, 2008 by Jinghong Zhangs

[One fascinating aspect of the latest wave of commercialization in the borderlands of China and southeast Asia is the dramatic revival in popularity of Yunnan's Puer tea. Jinghong Zhang is a PhD student at the Australian National University who is studying the production, marketing and consumption of Puer tea. She has provided this brief report on the the latest opinions of tea connoisseurs about tea storage.]

As Puer tea becomes popular around China, ordinary consumers have learnt to distinguish two issues when they bargain in the teashops: ‘where is it made?’, referring to the origin of the basic tea material; and ‘how old is it?’, since Puer tea is known as ‘the older the better’.

Now a third issue is becoming important: ‘where is it stored?’. This added issue is due to people’s recent realization that the quality of Puer tea is not only determined by the raw material and the processing technique; neither is it true that an older tea is definitely better than a younger one; but quality also largely depends on what post-fermentation temperature and humidity the tea experiences during storage.

In the tea markets of Kunming, I’ve seen a teashop that specialises in Puer tea that has been stored in Hong Kong. Such Puer tea is called gang cang cha, literally meaning ‘tea out of a Hong Kong storehouse.’ The owner told me this was due to the special demand by some clients who appreciate the taste of Puer tea stored in Hong Kong rather than in Yunnan. He said that the humid and hot climate in Hong Kong could speed up the post fermentation of Puer tea, much quicker than being stored in drier place such as Kunming. Yunnan, no doubt, is the production place for Puer tea, but in the eyes of the big consumers in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Guangdong, Yunnan is no good for storage, and some of them even say that the Yunnanese don’t know how to properly store and consume Puer tea.

A big tea storehouse called tian xia cha cang (tea storehouse for the world), was established in Yuanjiang, Yunnan, in 2006. Yuanjiang is located in the moist and hot area of Honghe (Red River) valley, in southeast Yunnan. And it is said that one year’s storage here would be equal to three years of storage in Kunming. I visited it in June last year. All the teas were stored in the warehouse under controlled temperature and humidity (picture above). There I saw a compressed Puer tea in the shape of a pillar, whose color had turned dark red, really like shu cha, artificial fermented tea, although later I found it was actually sheng cha, naturally fermented tea (picture below). The label said it was produced in 2001 and been stored in Yuanjiang since 2003. I was shocked because I’d never seen such fast change on Puer sheng cha with the same age in Kunming.

The establishment of Yuanjiang tea storehouse aims to show that Yunnan is not only good at Puer tea production, but also good at Puer tea storage, a form of post-production. All the Puer tea being stored here will be sold later with added value from storage.

普洱茶的贮藏类型与可长期保存

1 普洱茶“越陈越香”与保质期

人们常说盛世兴茶，这与茶的特性有关，饮茶不仅可以满足人们口腹之欲，更是一种雅俗共赏的文化，一种休闲健康的诗意生活，

也是交友、成就事业与创建和谐社会的良媒！改革开放二十多年，中国经济逐渐强盛，人们的生活水平日益提高，对“好茶”的需求迅速增长！普洱茶以独特的个性在茶叶大家庭中获得了世人的青睐，保健，耐藏，具有较好的投资增值功能等因素成为了市场的宠儿，与此同时，普洱茶的“越陈越香”，保质期标注的问题被提到了产业发展的前台，本文试根据我们的一些研究成果，从专业的角度对普洱茶的陈香和保质期问题作一些探讨。

近段时期以来，常常有人对普洱茶“越陈越香”提出一些意见，有人认为普洱茶只有在良好的贮藏条件下才会变得更好，有人提出普洱茶不可能越陈越香，总有一个最佳贮藏时期，过了这个时期，香气会下降。这些提法是有一定道理的。然而什么样的贮藏条件才是良好的呢？什么是陈香？最佳贮藏时期又是多长时间？这个问题进一步发展为普洱茶的保质期的问题和保质期标注的问题；对于这一连串的问题的解决，需要从普洱茶基本品质以及贮藏中品质变化的角度来分析。

2、普洱茶品质的三个基本方面

作为一种饮料，一种食品，普洱茶的内在品质主要由卫生品质、风味（感官）品质和营养功能品质三个方面构成。

普洱茶的卫生安全品质是决定普洱茶能否食用，能否作为商品的基本条件，是指普洱茶制品安全可靠，有益健康并且适合人类饮用的品质方面。具体讲就是在普洱茶产品中不得检出或检出剂量不得超过某个界限值之外含有可能损害或威胁人体健康的有毒、有害物质。

普洱茶的风味品质是指普洱茶产品色、香、味、形方面的基本特征，能否给人以美的享受。作为一种嗜好性饮品，普洱茶最基本的特点是其风味嗜好性，风味品质是普洱茶品质优劣的决定因素，良好的风味品质是支持普洱茶产业能够持续稳步发展的前提，而普洱茶风味多样化、系列化是吸引不同喜好消费人群的重要因素。

普洱茶的营养和保健功能品质是近年来普洱茶日益受到消费者欢迎，市场不断扩大的重要原因之一。研究表明普洱茶中含有茶多酚，茶色素，多糖

，咖啡碱等一系列的保健功能成分。

3、贮藏中三种类型普洱茶品质的变化

3.1 三种类型的普洱茶

近三十多年来，随着普洱茶产业的长足发展，普洱茶生产工艺也在不断创新发展，创出了一系列加工处理方法，当今市场上的普洱茶可归为三种基本类型：（1）渥堆微生物发酵型（W型）普洱茶；（2）仓贮微生物发酵型（CW型）普洱茶；（3）湿热作用陈化型（S型）普洱茶。这三种类型普洱茶的加工工艺流程存在着较大差异，其品质有着各自的特点，在贮藏陈化中品质变化有着不同特点和规律。因此，有必要分别对它们在贮藏中的品质变化进行分析和研究。

1）湿热作用陈化型（S型）普洱茶是指：云南大叶种晒青毛茶或由晒青毛茶蒸压成型的紧压茶在含有较低水分，在适当的贮藏转化环境中，排斥大量微生物参与条件下，借助一些物理处理方法进行一定时期的陈化处理，主要依靠水热和非酶性氧化作用以及一些物理过程实现在制品品质色泽朝着干茶黄褐、茶汤汤色绿黄到黄红、滋味浓醇回甘、香气纯陈的方向转化所得产品。该类型的普洱茶具有陈化期长的特点，贮藏陈化中品质变化是一个渐进连续过程。 

2）渥堆微生物发酵型（W型）普洱茶是指：利用云南大叶种毛茶原料潮水堆积，依靠自然或人工接种，引入大量微生物发酵，通过保湿堆积与翻堆解块、闷堆与透气结合来调节在制品水、热、气的交替变化，调控微生物区系更替及代谢转

化，实现在制品重度发酵，形成干茶红褐、汤色褐红、滋味醇和、具有典型微生物发酵香型的基本特点的产品。完成渥堆发酵的在制品一般还需通过适度的陈化、精制等提质处理最终形成成品。贮藏中内含成分变化较小，但挥发性成分变化明显。

3）仓贮微生物发酵型（CW型）普洱茶是指：毛茶原料或蒸压成型的紧压茶在较高含水量的条件下，或者通过高湿环境中一定时期的在制品吸水过程处理，使其水分活度达到青霉等微生物生长的下限要求以上，但比渥堆处理的水分含量低得多的条件下，借助这些微生物的活动、结合仓贮干湿交替处理来实现其后发酵过程。该工艺把微生物处理和仓贮处理相结合，在适当的仓贮环境条件下借助相对温和的微生物活动推动，实现后发酵转化制得的产品。在贮藏陈化不同处理阶段中，品质产生跃变性转变，然后渐趋平稳。

3.2 贮藏中三种类型普洱茶的卫生品质的变化为了研究贮藏中普洱茶为什甘泉品质的变化，我们参照食品安全性毒理学评价程序 ，并借鉴我国保健食品安全性毒理学评价方法，通过小白鼠急性毒性研究和遗传度性评价经典方法：小鼠骨髓微核率检验、小鼠精子畸形分析检验，鼠伤寒沙门氏杆菌回复突变检验，仓鼠肺成纤维细胞(CHL)染色体畸变

试验， 以晒青毛茶为对照，对三种类型不同贮藏期共5种代表性普洱茶产品进行了遗传毒性安全性毒理学评价。取得了一系列明确的研究结果。

从急性毒性和遗传毒性来看，三种类型的五个普洱茶样具有较高的食用安全性，可以推断，普洱茶在正常的渥堆工序和多年的贮藏过程中没有产生有毒物质，在长期贮藏过程中，普洱茶的安全性没有降低，还有提高的迹象，卫生品质来讲没有下降，为普洱茶长期贮存的卫生安全性提供了依据。 

3.3 贮藏中三种类型普洱茶风味品质的变化

大量抽样表明：三种类型普洱茶由于加工后基本品质的差异，在贮藏中其风味品质变化各自遵循着不同的特点，但总体上来看，都有着香气变得更加优雅醇正，滋味变得较滑口生津，饱满而不刺激，汤色变得更加明亮，色度加深的方向发展，但他们的风味变化又有各自的特点水热作用陈化型普洱茶的变化是连续渐进的，受贮藏环境影响较大，渥堆微生物发酵型普洱茶在贮藏半年内变化相对较快，然后逐渐减慢，而仓贮微生物发酵型普

洱茶在贮藏中的变化则因微生物的活动而变化较大，但基本完成发酵处理后，其贮藏转化特点类似于渥堆微生物发酵型普洱茶。总体上来讲，在良好贮藏条件下，三种类型普洱茶的风味品质都朝着提高的方向发展。这种变化正是随着普洱茶贮藏期延长，卖价更高的根本原因。也为普洱茶可以长期贮藏提供了坚实的依据。

3.4 贮藏中普洱茶营养保健功能品质的变化

研究表明，贮藏中，三种类型的普洱茶中多种保健功能的茶多酚都在朝进一步氧化聚合的方向发展，而另一种较重要的功能成分咖啡碱则相对比较稳定。但这些变化对贮藏中普洱茶保健功能改变的影响有待进一步深入研究。

4、关于普洱茶产品标签保质期标注的探讨

普洱茶地方标准中规定在良好贮藏条件下普洱茶可以长期保存这一规定，最近发生了对该规定是否恰当的争论。我国食品卫生法明确提出：制定我国食品卫生法的目的是为保证食品卫生，防止食品污染和有害因素对人体的危害，保障人民身体健康，因此其对卫生品质的监督是第一位的。从普洱茶的特点来看，它具有耐贮藏的特点，而且在良好贮藏条件下，具有较好的提高风味品质和价值的特点，作为一种嗜好性饮品，在卫生品质保证的条件下，其风味品质是第一位的，我国预包装食品标签通用标准7718-94 曾经规定保质期高于18个月的预包装食品可以免标保质期，期间，曾发生酒类产品标准中规定标注保质期太短而与实际相矛盾的问题，为了解决矛盾，在7718-2004 中则修改并明确提出：乙醇含量10%或10%以上的饮料酒；食醋；食用盐；固态食糖类可以免标保质期（因其具有较好的防腐功能）；笔者认为鉴于普洱茶的特殊情况，糖类和酒类一样，从技术角度讲：普洱茶标签上授予免标保质期或标注“可长期保存”是有根据而且恰当的，厂商可根据情况加以标注，但厂商必须为品质的卫生安全据实负责。同时，普洱茶贮藏陈化的机理研究目前还很薄弱，加强普洱茶产品包装，以及贮藏条件，陈化品质转化的研究是很有必要的。

（作者简介：陈文品， 男， 茶学博士，华南农业大学园艺学院茶叶科学系副教授，茶叶初、精、深加工研究和教学工作，近年来主要从事普洱茶研究。）

普洱茶发酵机制的探讨

普洱特辑　　加入时间：2007-6-11 10:04:20

普洱茶原产于云南省澜沧江流域的思茅地区和西双版纳州，而“普洱”其实只为思茅地区其中一个县城，但在早期，普洱茶都以普洱县为集散地，因此而得名。

普洱茶包括散装和紧压装两种，都以晒青茶为原料。晒青茶的特点主要在于晒青，那就是制作过程中必须要通过太阳晒干而成的茶叶，这是在制作上与其他省份所不同之处，因此，也有人称它为“滇青”，“滇”是云南省的简称，滇青有指云南青茶之意。有些人把云南所产茶叶全部都统称滇青，那是不对的，因为云南还产滇红和小叶种滇绿。

晒青茶的主要特点是晒青，只是现在很多产区都以炒青来代替晒青，他们以为这样做品质会更佳。而实际上，这是因为天气不稳定和场地不足所造成的困扰，改用炒青希望带来方便和加速制作工序。

只是晒青茶的特色是在晒青，只有经过日晒，鲜叶那种日晒所带来的诱发发酵反应，才能产生那种独特的普洱风味。制作晒青茶的好坏，全要靠晒青的天时和人工技术巧妙的相结合。在古代，普洱茶是没有经过陈化就推市，人们都在饮用新鲜出笼货色，因此，在古代的茶书里，对于普洱茶的记载，往往只是以形容其香气而感赞不绝，从不触及其滋味。只是，后来人类社会不断进步的演变，人们慢慢地懂得将普洱茶珍藏，从而才发现陈化的意义。

因此，到了现代的茶书里，就有“将普洱茶放进缸中埋在土里存放数年至十数年”的论述，又提到“其汤色红艳，滋味甘醇……”

古代所指普洱茶，实际上只为现在所说的晒青茶，其香气绝顶，但滋味霸辣。古时有人认为“普洱茶味苦性刻，清胃刮肠，虚人禁用，绿者更佳。”这已经和现在的普洱茶为两样。因此，现在还有些人把晒青茶当作普洱茶，那已经是过时的概念。

现在，云南茶叶公司对于普洱茶的介绍说明书有更进一步的明确指出：“普洱茶是一种后发酵茶。”其意思为，是用晒青茶再进行发酵工序，因此，有时也被称为“再发酵”茶，使之成为全发酵的一种茶类。

在香港，过去人们只把晒青茶放置在干仓里储存，这种干置的方式，至少需要十数年，甚至于数十年，才好饮用。虽然品质甚佳，但是，在目前发达的商业社会里，难免就出现了竞争上的压力，因此，为了寻求突破，唯有进行改良。例如以湿仓的发酵反应代替干仓的陈化现象，只要控制适当，效果显著，品质也极佳。

当然，这种发酵的工艺，必须是一项巧妙的技术，从而在使晒青茶发酵到某种程度，既可以保留特种的香气，又可以达到甘醇的滋味。

市面上所谓的“青饼”，实际上只是饼状晒青茶，是普洱饼茶的原料。由于云南茶叶公司没有供应采用这种青饼已经进行后发酵的那种货色，因此，青饼的后发酵工序，都是由香港商号各自进行。

青饼的后发酵工序，通常都是放置在较为潮湿的地下室，有人往往称它为“湿仓”，这样可以起动发酵，使之青饼在不需要太过漫长的时间里，可以达之良好的色、香、味。有人认为，这是模仿在地窖里存放酒料那般，让酒精蒸发，而酒水变得更加香醇。

现在，仍然也有极个别的行家是将饼茶放置在干燥的仓库，或俗称的“干仓”存放，这样希望保留香气和滋味，只从陈化的方式进行加工程序。有的人认为，这样的方法才是最完美，但是要花费数十年时间，滋味才能甘醇，在经济效益上，这样制作收获太慢，但很少人能有这样能耐。

总之，湿仓或干仓的运用，是完全没有统一的概念，例如，怎样的才算湿仓或者干仓，至今也没有固定的定义和标准。每个商号完全凭着自己的经验和心得，制出他们心目中所认为最完美的货色，因此，普洱饼茶在香港五花八门，各持自己独特的风味。

在这里必须指出的是，湿仓的运用，从主观动机上是为了加速发酵现象，在实际制作过程中，如果引用适当，品质也会达到意想不到的良好效果。

需要进一步说明的是，湿仓和干仓只是譬如工具，各个商号，都有自己的技巧，施展自己的本能，不仅在经济效益上，而且，也在品质的要求上，进行一场竞争的角逐。

云南饼茶的历史并不太长，但紧压壮茶叶的制作，历史上很早就有记载。古时西北边疆交通甚为不便，从云南运茶到新疆或西藏等地区，大概费时要一年之久，为了保证茶叶品质不致霉烂，又便于贮藏，最重要的是为了运输上的方便，才研究出紧压状茶叶，有人称这是西路边茶和南路边茶，意思为专销西部边疆的茶叶，这或许就是紧压状茶和云南饼茶的始源。很多人对普洱茶还没有一种固定和明确的认识，往往被称为是一种带有神秘面纱的茶类，实际上，一种很简单的概念，普洱茶是一种经过后发酵的全发酵茶类。

红茶也是一种全发酵茶类，不同之处在于红茶的全发酵，是从采摘鲜叶，经过萎凋、揉捻、发酵、干燥一气呵成。当发酵认为理想的程度，即进行烘干而将发酵停止，将发酵的程度固定，红茶是以新鲜的货色为佳。

而普洱茶的后发酵，是采用已经制成的晒青茶为原料，发酵的进行没有受到时间的限制，发酵的程度也不可以利用烘干使之停止，只是利用发酵的时间快慢来控制其品质，而且，普洱茶有越陈越香的特性。

普洱茶与陈茶到底有什么区别呢？前已述说，普洱茶是一种属于后发酵的茶类，而且，普洱茶的发酵与一般食品的发酵相同，是微生物的发酵。而陈茶应该来说是那种存放干仓多年的茶叶，存放干仓的目的，顾名思义也就是不要产生微生物，不要微生物发酵，而是仅仅依靠茶叶本身的酶来产生氧化反应，使之茶叶变老，既老化的意思。

普洱茶的制作是带有菌种来参与，他们说这是有益菌的作用，而陈茶只是氧化酶的作用。其分别既是发酵是外来的微生物的参与，这样可以使茶叶自身的变化更加丰富多彩，而陈化只是茶叶自身的酶作自体的改变而已。

发酵和陈化都是酶的作用。有些人认为，陈化是属于非酶性的氧化，这是错误的。鲜叶经过杀青之后，并非能够全部把酶杀死，还有很多残留的部分，一旦受潮，其活力又再旺盛，酶性氧化又占主导。

再用晒青茶来做例子。晒青的目的，就是要把鲜叶弄干，但又不要使其酶被杀死，所以，晒青茶的酶仍然大部分得于保留。晒青茶的存放，都在做酶性的氧化，都在做无氧的呼吸，所以，晒青茶有越陈越香的特性，被称为带有生命而活着的茶叶。

普洱茶到底是属何种茶呢？在思茅市举行的第一届中国普洱茶国际研讨会的展销会上，我看到“普洱茶绿”和“普洱茶红”的产品。当时，什么是普洱茶，普洱茶到底是绿色的还是黑色的，在台湾已引起了不少的争论。以为到云南这个普洱茶的原产地探个究竟，就会彻底的找到答案。但是，没想到，在云南，什么是普洱茶，其混乱的程度竟比在台湾更有过之而无不及。

后来，我曾经写信给当时的云南茶业协会的秘书长苏芳华先生，呼吁云南茶业学会在这方面多做些工作，理顺普洱茶的概念，这样，对于普洱茶的研究和发展才能找到明确的方向。在返港之后，我阅读了会议的文件，也同时发现，当时思茅地区的李师程书记，也撰文提出这个观点，想必这是所有普洱茶人的共同心愿，为进一步的推广普洱茶，大家都发出心中的呼声。

在信中，我又有进一步指出，普洱茶不应当归为黑茶类。

传统上的黑茶，具本上都是采用较粗老的茶叶，制造过程中堆积发酵时间较长做色，使成品茶的茶色呈油黑或黑褐色的茶类。主要有湖南的黑茶，湖北的“老青茶”，四川的“南路边茶”、“西路边茶”和广西的六堡茶。早期主要是销售到边疆少数民族地区。

黑茶的基本工艺流程是杀青、揉捻、渥堆、干燥。黑茶与普洱茶不同之处，除了在选料方面，黑茶是选用粗老茶之外，黑茶的制作工序大多数都是自采摘鲜叶之后，杀青、揉捻、渥堆、干燥是一气呵成，与红茶有些相似，是属于前发酵茶，只不过，黑茶的渥堆时间较长，长达一个月之久。

而普洱茶是采用已制成的晒青茶为原料，再进行发酵工序，是属于后发酵茶，而发酵的工序又不一定是用渥堆。更为显著的不同是普洱茶的后发酵是不可以用焙火来干燥，而大部分的黑茶是有干燥程序，有焙火香。

普洱茶具有悠久的历史，普洱茶蕴涵着古代遗留下来优秀的传统文化内涵，普洱茶采自优良的种质资源的大树茶，普洱茶款式众多，销路广阔，前景秀丽。近十年来，普洱茶对人体健康益处的不断地被发掘，有人把它誉为是继三百年前发明红茶之后人类的又一大贡献。

到底什么是普洱茶，普洱茶到底是属于什么茶类，现在大多数人都认为普洱茶是源自云南，采自大叶茶树的鲜叶，经少数民族传统的晒青工艺制成的晒青茶为原料，经过后发酵工艺而制成的。但是，这里必须要特别指出的是，这种后发酵工艺也就是微生物的发酵。直截了当地说，普洱茶也就是微生物发酵的茶类。